A patient lies on an examination couch during a plurality of different examinations. By way of example, in the case of examinations for medical-diagnostic imaging or also with spectroscopic examinations, the patient must spend up to 30 minutes or longer in a reclining position. In this process, the aim is often for the patient not to move or only move slightly, since otherwise the examination results may be falsified or rendered unusable.
No standard specification previously existed for this, where the patient is able to support his/her hands in a risk-free fashion. With examinations in which the examination couch has to be moved through or into a medical examination device for instance, such as in the case of magnetic resonance examinations or computer tomography examinations, a finger supported laterally on the examination couch or another region of the hand may suffer bruising. In many cases, this may even result in a bone in the hand being broken. Such cases are known from the field.
As countermeasures, warnings were in the first instance previously printed in the instruction manual of the examination devices for instance, which however generally have to be passed onto the patient by the personnel responsible for the examination, in order to indicate their effect. This can be easily forgotten, particularly in the case of hectic operational conditions. Structural measures such as covers or so-called guide rods are known as further countermeasures, with which examination couches and/or examination devices can be retrofitted, so as to prevent the hands from getting caught at the sides of the examination couch. These structural measures are however mostly very complicated and thus very expensive.
Folding the hands across the stomach for instance also often represents an unsuitable manner of supporting the hands. On the one hand, in the case of some examination modalities, the possibility exists of precisely covering the region of the body of the patient to be examined in this position. On the other hand, this position can also endanger the patient in another fashion. Magnetic resonance examinations for instance therefore do not allow the hands to be folded or supported on one another and/or directly next to one another since this results in a so-called loop. In other words, such a position could allow the body to absorb high frequency emissions of the magnetic resonance device and to heat up significantly in places as a result, thereby leading to burns.
The formation of such inductive loops out of body parts is a serious problem. For instance, DE 10 2004 024 097 A1 specifies a method for optimizing the arrangement of a patient in a clinical scanner. The aim here is in particular to prevent loops by optical monitoring.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,702 discloses a cushion, which holds and fixes the arms and head of a patient during an imaging examination. In this way, the arms are fixed next to the head of the patient by means of ties. The wrists can also be fixed with further ties. These fastenings oblige the patient to hold his/her arms and hands in a fixed predetermined position.
US 2006/0019800 A1 discloses a device for the positioning of forearms for medical imaging or analysis. In this way, the lower arms are fastened in support guides, which force the forearms into a predetermined position. Rotatable handles are provided for the hands, said handles allowing the forearms and wrists of a patient to be examined with different, fixedly adjustable rotation angles. The patient is also clamped here into the device such that he has to retain a certain position.
The lack of a standard specification, where the patient is able to support his/her hands in a risk-free manner, results time and again in uncertainty and discomfort or even in injuries to the patient.